Champion Review: Count Nefaria
EdisonLaw
Member Posts: 7,599 ★★★★★
Saluti evocatori!
Today, I would like to present my review on the latest Champion of MCOC, the leader of the Maggia, and an old enemy of the Avengers, Count Luchino NEFARIA! We will review his animations, damage output, utility, best matchups, and overall place in the contest.
Animations: 9/10. Before we dive into the animations, I'd like to briefly discuss Count Nefaria for those unfamiliar with him before his inclusion in the Contest. Count Nefaria is a classic Marvel villain debuting in the 60s. A wealthy Italian aristocrat, he had ambitions far greater than his immense fortune. Craving more power and influence, Nefaria allied himself with the Maggia, Marvel’s equivalent of the Italian Mafia, and quickly became one of their most prominent leaders (basically Italy’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin). Despite initially lacking superpowers, his cunning intellect and strategic mind allowed him to challenge some of Marvel's greatest heroes, including the Avengers. He consistently used his wealth, resources, and influence to orchestrate devious plans. He was exceptionally skilled at pitting the Avengers against various threats, proving that his lack of inherent superhuman abilities was no limitation to his dangerous potential. However, after facing multiple defeats at the hands of the Avengers, Count Nefaria realized that his intellect and wealth alone weren't enough to achieve the dominance he craved. Frustrated by these setbacks, he sought a more permanent solution—gaining superpowers of his own. To achieve this, he turned to none other than Baron Zemo, a brilliant but twisted villain with a deep knowledge of science and a history of creating superhumans. With Zemo’s help, Nefaria underwent an experimental process that granted him extraordinary abilities from three other villains who aren’t even in MCOC yet (Living Laser, the original Power Man, and Whirlwind), transforming him into a being with superhuman strength, speed, endurance, invulnerability, flight, and ionic energy absorption and projection.
Now, let’s get into his animations, which bring out his aristocratic flair and dangerous nature. Right from his basic movements, you can see the sophistication and power behind every action. His regal posture reflects his high status, while his attacks pack a serious punch, perfectly blending elegance with lethal force. Each of his attacks has a distinct visual impact, full of energy and power—whether it's his melee strikes or his more superhuman abilities. Vibrant effects, especially during his special moves, demonstrate his power over ionic energy. When he unleashes these abilities, you get the sense that this isn't just some mob boss who happens to be strong—Count Nefaria is a true powerhouse capable of going toe-to-toe with Marvel's mightiest heroes. The game does a fantastic job of portraying his team-busting prowess. Nefaria has often stood alone against entire groups of superheroes, from the Avengers to the X-Men, and his animations reflect that intimidating presence. His power feels colossal, as if he could take on the world single-handedly and still come out on top.
https://www.comicvine.com/a/uploads/original/11135/111355351/7397591-durablity- no sells thor's hammer in a flashback (the avengers #33).jpg
Damage: 8.5/10. Count Nefaria lives up to his reputation as one of Marvel's most formidable powerhouses, boasting impressive damage capabilities in the Contest. After gaining superhuman abilities, Nefaria became a force to be reckoned with, which is reflected in his in-game damage output. His moveset takes full advantage of his immense strength and durability, delivering devastating blows that can easily overwhelm his opponents. Whether through powerful basic attacks or high-impact special abilities, Nefaria excels at dealing significant damage over short and extended fights. His rotation works as such: to start blocking an attack at the right time to evade and build up energy. Then, use Parry to gain ionic charges. While on cooldown, you can still avoid the last hit of your opponent’s special attacks, which applies an intense Energy vulnerability to them. Next, use your Special 1 to absorb those energy buildups and enter Ionic Overcharge mode. Keep evading and punishing your opponent's specials, and when ready, use your Special 2 to activate Fury and deal significant damage. If your opponent isn't defeated yet, keep cycling between Special 1 and Special 2 to maintain Ionic Overcharge and keep your Furies active. Not only does he deal some solid damage with his Special 2 attack especially, the Furies he gains and the increased attack rating in Overcharge allows for big yellow numbers.
Utility: 8/10. While Count Nefaria shines in raw power and damage output, his utility comes in at a solid but more modest 7/10. He offers a versatile toolkit that gives him an edge against certain tough Defenders, though it's not as broad as some of the more utility-focused champions in the Contest, such as The Leader. One of his standout utility features is his ability to significantly reduce an opponent's power gain by 95% when entering Ionic Overcharge, a handy mechanic against power-heavy enemies, especially those with abilities like Mystic Dispersion or passive power gain. This power control allows players to keep dangerous Mystic champions and other power-based opponents like Hyperion in check, preventing them from unleashing devastating Special Attacks. Additionally, the power denied to the opponent is partially transferred to Count Nefaria, giving him a tactical advantage by enabling him to unleash more of his own Specials faster, like a power efficiency seen in some Mutant champions or how Doctor Doom steals power from his opponent.
But wait, that’s not all. Additionally, Count Nefaria has impressive defensive utilities that enhance his durability. While in Ionic Overcharge, not only do his attacks not make contact, countering the threat of Thorns as well as dealing Energy damage, he gains both significant Physical and Energy Resistance, as well as up to 90% Degeneration, allowing him to withstand damage from a wide range of attacks. His resistance makes him particularly tanky and hard to wear down, especially when combined with his healing mechanics. Moreover, Nefaria has a built-in Evade mechanic on Parry and when Parrying Special attacks that lets him avoid specific attacks that he cannot usually parry, such as Unblockable hits, further bolstering his defensive toolkit as well as helping him ramp his ionic energy. He is also immune to Bleed and Power Steal due to his superhuman abilities, making him a firm counter against champions who rely on Power Steal to drain his power, like Doctor Doom and the Enchantress. But be careful. If he is bled by a non-Mystic champion, he loses his ionic charges, making him more vulnerable.
While Count Nefaria and the Leader share similar utility aspects, such as healing power control, and defensive capabilities, they each approach utility differently. The Count, for instance, requires a more aggressive and proactive playstyle to capitalize on his strengths fully. His gameplay revolves around timing Well-timed evades, landing critical parries, and cycling his Special Attacks to maintain his Ionic Overcharge state. This aggressive approach keeps the pressure on opponents, allowing him to continuously manage power gain and healing, while maximizing his damage potential through Fury buffs. In contrast, a champion like The Leader offers even more power control and defensive traits but with a more strategic or methodical playstyle and less damage output. The Leader uses manipulation and positioning to outsmart opponents with his enhanced mind. While the Leader’s gameplay might involve managing debuffs with his light attacks to reverse healing and power, controlling the battlefield with his Green Door, as well as relying on damage over time like Degeneration effects to take down his opponents, Count Nefaria demands direct engagement and continuous offense to unlock his full potential.
Signature ability: 9/10 The first part of Count Nefaria’s Signature ability allows him to life steal from the opponent’s heal reversal, similar to Scorpion, making it a crucial asset in battles. By converting the healing he denies into his own health regeneration, this ability enhances his survivability and effectiveness, particularly against regenerative champions, synergizing well with the Despair Mastery by amplifying the healing reversal and bolstering his health recovery. This can help when Count Nefaria is at low health and enhance his overall defensive capabilities. The second part is when the opponent gains a burst of power or regeneration, Nefaria gains charges and enters Ionic Overcharge. This dual functionality enhances his survivability and effectiveness, particularly against regenerative champions and power gainers, as mentioned above, the overcharge significantly reduces their power rate and healing by a lot.
Strengths/best matchups
Power Gain: Count Nefaria excels against champions with significant power gain mechanics. His ability to trigger Ionic Overcharge effectively reduces the power gain of opponents, making him a strong counter to the following:
Hyperion: Known for his power gain buffs, Hyperion can be neutralized by Nefaria’s power control, reducing his ability to launch devastating Specials or having access to a dangerous Special 3
Serpent: This character’s power gain mechanics are also mitigated by Nefaria’s power reduction, preventing Serpent from ramping up his abilities too quickly.
Killmonger: Even though he is a Skill champion, His power gain through debuffs can be controlled by Nefaria, who reduces his power accumulation and capitalizes on it. And while in Ionic overcharge, all of Nefaria’s attacks are non contact so he doesn’t have to worry about taking any Reverb damage from Killmonger’s vibranium suit
Other forms of passive power gain: Champions like Doctor Strange, Adam Warlock, Sorcerer Supreme, Mangog and some others gain power passively, allowing Nefaria to take advantage of it and power himself instead.
Regeneration: Count Nefaria also shines against champions with substantial regeneration abilities. His power to reduce healing effects makes him particularly effective against:
Wolverine: With his high healing factor, Wolverine’s regeneration is significantly diminished by Nefaria’s ability to reduce healing, making him easier to defeat.
Serpent: In addition to his power gain, Serpent’s regeneration can be countered effectively by Nefaria, ensuring that his healing from Willpower or Death Immunity does not offset the damage taken.
Nick Fury: This matchup may seem odd at first, as a skill champion like Nick Fury has the class advantage against the scientifically based Count Nefaria. But that isn’t really the case when Nefaria’s Ionic overcharge reduces the healing of Nick Fury’s LMD by 95%, allowing for him to take advantage of it and defeat him.
Energy and Degeneration Resistance: Nefaria's Ionic Overcharge also provides substantial Energy, Physical and Degeneration resistance, which is particularly useful against champions who deal significant energy-based damage or have degeneration abilities
Photon: In Pure Light Form, her attacks are unblockable and undexable. But the Count can just well time block the last hit and Evade it since his Evade doesn’t count as dexterity. Plus the energy vulnerability will help bypass her natural energy resistance, and his own Energy resistance minimizes the block damage he takes.
Dormammu and Mojo: Both of these mystic defenders inflict Degen if the opponent’s buff expires. Though the Count isn’t buff immune, his 90% resistance to degen helps reduce that degeneration by a lot.
Onslaught: Onslaught’s last sp1 hit can be punished if the Count is close enough. Additionally neuroshocks deal energy damage which Nefaria can be resistant to. Onslaught’s sp2 also turns the neuroshocks into degen which Nefaria is also resistant to. All these abilities actually make him a solid counter to Onslaught.
Havok: Havok not only has natural passive power gain which Nefaria can take advantage of, most of his attacks deal Energy damage, including his dangerous Plasma detonations. Nefaria’s energy resist will help reduce that damage.
Domino: Though the Count is not immune to Ability Accuracy Reduction, his energy resistance reduces the energy damage he takes from Critical Failure. Also his natural Evade ability will allow him to evade Domino’s SP1 and 2 projectiles even while unlucky.
Bishop: While this mutant is known for his hard hitting Specials and incinerate damage, Nefaria’s energy resistance will help reduce that damage plus he can evade his specials (though it’s harder)
Magik and Mephisto: Magik’s limbo deals energy damage and heals her. Similarly Mephisto has both energy damage on his aura as well as regeneration from his persistent souls. All of these abilities the Count can either reduce or counter with his own abilities.
Weaknesses: Count Nefaria, despite his strengths as an Ionic powerhouse, has several notable weaknesses that can impact his effectiveness in battle:
Evade Counters: Nefaria's reliance on precise timing for evades and counters can be problematic against opponents with anti Evade abilities (Mole Man, Serpent, Heimdall) and can make it difficult for Nefaria to maintain his offensive pressure and evade incoming attacks effectively. Unstoppable also stops him as the opponent can easily counter and attack.
Bleed Effects from Non-Mystics: While Nefaria is immune to bleed effects from Mystic champions, he loses ionic charges when bled from non-Mystic champions. This makes it harder for him to ramp, as he will have to rely more on other abilities to ramp.
Hard Special Animations: Champions with challenging or hard-to-dodge Special Attacks can pose a problem for Nefaria. If he fails to parry evade or Dex these Specials effectively, he may take substantial damage. Special animations that are difficult to read or time correctly can disrupt his strategy and reduce his overall effectiveness in combat.
Purify Mechanic: Opponents with abilities to purify debuffs like Kingpin or Mole Man can also be a challenge for Nefaria. His utility relies on inflicting and maintaining debuffs like energy vulnerability and his Energy buildups, and if an opponent can consistently remove or negate these debuffs, it can diminish his ability to control the fight and manage power gain or regeneration effectively.
Unstoppable Defenders: Champions with the Unstoppable buff can pose a significant challenge for Nefaria. While his aggressive playstyle relies on constant pressure and chaining attacks, an opponent who frequently becomes Unstoppable can interrupt his flow and force him to disengage, which can be particularly difficult during critical moments when Nefaria is trying to build up his Ionic Overcharge or maintain his Fury buffs. Dealing with champions like Thing, Korg, or others who trigger Unstoppable can disrupt his rhythm and leave him vulnerable.
Overall, Count Nefaria is a powerful, aggressive champion who excels at controlling power gain, reducing regeneration, and dishing out high damage with his Ionic Overcharge and Fury passives. His toolkit, while specialized, offers impressive damage and control in the right matchups, making him a valuable addition to any roster when used strategically. For players who can manage his weaknesses and leverage his strengths, Nefaria is a formidable force that can dominate in the right circumstances.
What are your thoughts?
7
Comments
https://www.reddit.com/r/respectthreads/comments/6c8qy6/respect_count_nefaria_marvel_616/
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Luchino_Nefaria_(Earth-616)
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/respect-count-nefaria-complete-respect-thread-2084352/
Regardless, I'm not letting Unfazed worry me to much and it's certainly not ruining my love of the Count for a couple of reasons.
1. No-one is running Unfazed, certainly not 5/5.
2. If someone is running 5/5, that's still only 55% chance. Treat the fight like an AW boss - hardly "wrecks" Nefaria.
3. If someone is specifically running Unfazed for my Nefaria in BGs, he's done his job.